Physician: No back seat for women in sciences

With women becoming the majority of the workforce in the near future, they "must take their place in the STEM professions and not sit back to their male peers and people overseas."

DEBORAH CIRCELLIEDUCATION WRITER

DAYTONA BEACH — Dr. Pam Carbiener knew the names of bones before the alphabet. Instead of carrying a doll around as a child, she had a plastic model of a medulla oblongata, part of a brain stem, with a squeaky toy inside. Carbiener, a Daytona Beach obstetrician with Halifax OBGyn Associates, said her father — a scientist and university anatomy professor — was "gender-blind" and encouraged her in the medical field. She would spend many Saturdays in his lab with animals and anatomic specimens. "I came by this naturally," she told close to 300 people at the 10th annual Daytona State College Center for Women and Men luncheon, which was focused on the importance of encouraging females to go into careers related to the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math. Carbiener was honored Thursday by the center for her work and community service over the past 20 years. "She inspires others through her passionate care and her medical work every day," said Barbara Selig, special events and fundraising co-chair for the college's Center for Women and Men advisory board. With women becoming the majority of the workforce in the near future, Carbiener said they "must take their place in the STEM professions and not sit back to their male peers and people overseas." Instead of looking up to entertainers or TV celebrities, she said girls need to be familiar with women like Marie Curie, the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. The group also heard from retired Maj. Gen. Polly Peyer of Ormond Beach, who retired in 2010 after 35 years in the U.S. Air Force. She most recently had been commander of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Air Force Material Command, in Georgia. She started in the Air Force in 1975 in meteorology when 5 percent of the armed forces were women compared with about 20 percent today. Peyer said women need to "embrace and not be influenced by stereotypes" and listen to opportunities that come their way, "open the door, invite it in and embrace it." Two students who received help from the Center for Women and Men were also recognized. Mary Ann Spinner of South Daytona participated in a program at the center that helped her with writing resumes and interview skills, among other things. The single mother said she gained confidence to start classes in the medical assistance certificate program from which she will graduate next month. "It helped me to refresh and prepare to come back to classes," said Spinner, who was working in skin care and nails. "I wanted more of a career." Mary Dingman, 24, of Daytona Beach, received help with child care for her daughter in order to return to school and is seeking her associate's in marine biology. "It gave me that push I needed to go to school and get a career that I would love to do," she said. For Elizabeth Hotz, 55, of Port Orange, who was in the audience, the center's Fresh Start program helped her prepare to return to the workforce following a divorce. "The job market today is different with the Internet," said Hotz, who hopes to get a job in banking. "I learned a lot of new techniques for applying for a job."